


One part hope, two parts regret

by bouenkyou



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2014-11-01
Packaged: 2018-02-23 12:19:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2547263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouenkyou/pseuds/bouenkyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daichi and Koushi have a fallout and lose contact, but they meet again after two years. Future fic AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One part hope, two parts regret

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miaou Jones (miaoujones)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaoujones/gifts).



> This is a work set in the future of the original canon, but it follows the end of the anime more than the current in the manga so I'd say it's a bit AU-ish. 
> 
> Big thanks to J and D for betaing.

Daichi woke up, sweating. He had been dreaming about something from the past, but he couldn’t quite remember what it was. He looked at his alarm clock, there was still half an hour until he had to get up, but he got up anyway. 

After almost two years of living alone and being a college student, he was somewhat accustomed to the life of a studying and working adult, but sometimes the past still snuck up on him, reminding him of regrets and all the things he had left behind in his small town. 

Daichi checked his schedule for the day, and then quickly got dressed for a morning jog considering he now had time to spare for some exercise before his morning classes.  
After his high school experience, he had decided that maybe aiming for a national university was too high a goal and he settled for a PE. Program in in a private university in Tokyo.

His classes were tough and working part-time on top of doing tutoring at the university as part of his scholarship left him exhausted, but he didn’t think he was so bad off compared to others in more difficult living situations or with no possibilities of education at all. 

He locked the door to his room on his way out and skipped down the stairs of the complex, starting his lap around the apartment’s block as soon as he set foot on the sidewalk. His thoughts wandered off while his sneakers made quiet thuds against the pavement and he remembered some bits of the dream he had been having. 

Daichi suddenly came to a halt. His head was filled with thoughts of a red-eyed Koushi. At the time Daichi could tell he had probably been crying. From that memory, the dream became a blurry scene where Koushi was hitting him and yelling and blaming him because everything had gone wrong. Knowing the other boy, it was impossible for this to happen, but Daichi’s own feelings tried to feed this image to his brain every now and then. 

He shook his head to clear his mind and sighed before resuming his lap.

_

“Keishin-san, where should I put these?” Koushi was carrying two boxes with goods and he heaved a sigh when he had to lift them higher to place them in the place where Keishin was pointing.

It had been almost two years since he had graduated from high school and failed to enter any university. Most of his classmates were already second year students or had decided to succeed their parents’ businesses. 

Koushi had stayed true to his decision to remain as a club member until graduation and this affected him negatively during his entrance exams. He had gone to cram school, he studied hard and thought he was prepared but in the end it wasn’t enough. He remembered all of his high school teachers telling him this was going to happen, but he didn’t completely feel defeated. 

Koushi simply took it all in stride and looked for a job in the meantime. It wasn’t the end of the world to him. 

Coach Ukai offered him a job at _Sakanoshita_ Store a few months after that. “The pay won’t be big,” he said, “but you’ll have your mind occupied.” 

Koushi smiled gratefully, “thank you, coach.” 

“I’m no longer your coach, Sugawara. Address me as Mr. Ukai from now on!” Keishin cackled after saying this; but after Koushi started on the job, they settled for a respectful first-name basis or it would have gotten too confusing in the Ukai household. 

Koushi carried eight more boxes from the delivery truck into the back of the store and then occupied the seat next to Keishin, ready to start the product labeling and distribution inside the store. 

“Any plans for the weekend? I know it’s your 20th birthday,” Keishin made a drinking motion and Koushi grinned.

“I’ll let you pay for my first drink,” he replied.

Koushi didn’t have any big plans, but the guys from the Karasuno neighboorhood association had insisted he celebrate with them. He was the last one to reach the legal drinking age and that was definitely an excuse for them to get plastered. 

One of the guys wanted Koushi to meet a girl, too, his girlfriend’s cousin or something like that and Koushi wasn’t too excited about that part, mostly nervous, admittedly, but the weekend was something to look forward to.

The weather was warm, but there were only a couple more weeks left until summer hell hit full force. Koushi felt a little dismayed at the idea of unloading trucks in the peak of the summer heat, but he could still relax for now. He unpacked and labeled box after box of goods mechanically, the task becoming automatic for his body after months of practice. 

Keishin tended the shop whenever customers came in. Koushi was grateful he didn’t have to interact with the costumers; they always asked him about the stuff he didn’t want to talk about. It was either about university, or his plans for the future, or worse of all… about Daichi.

_

It was the summer break. Daichi had somehow escaped the responsibility of visiting his parents for a year, but this time around his mother kept insisting he had missed too many holidays with them and his father kept grumbling about the ungrateful son he had.

He checked his luggage, confirming that he was taking everything he needed. He checked twice if he had turned off and unplugged all devices and even after locking his door, he unlocked it and went back inside again to check one last time if everything was alright. 

He started feeling anxious and uncomfortable while riding the train back to his hometown. What if he met his classmates or any other people he had lost all contact with? A nagging thought came from the back of his mind, invading him: _what if I meet Koushi?_

After a small panic attack, he finally calmed down and accepted his fate. After all, meeting Koushi was probably a given considering how small the town was, but Daichi didn’t know what he could say after almost two years of no communication.

_

“You’re going to grow mold on you if you don’t go out, you know,” Daichi’s mother huffed when he smiled amusedly at the statement.

“I’m going out alright, Mom. I went out this morning for a jog,” he stretched his arms and grabbed the TV remote, “besides, it’s impossible to get moldy on this heat.”

Twenty minutes later he found himself on the way to the convenience store. His mother nearly literally kicked him out after complaining for fifteen minutes how he had spent two weeks holed up in the house, except for his so-called ‘morning jogs’. 

In the end Daichi got the hint and went out to get ice cream. If he played his cards right and got her favorite flavor, she would forgive him and not bother him for another two weeks and by then he would be planning to go back to Tokyo anyways. 

“Long time no see, Ukai-san,” Daichi cheerfully greeted his old coach when he walked into the store. They chatted a bit about what had happened in town for a few minutes while Daichi carefully picked an ice cream flavor from the varied selection. He seriously considered between rum raisin and green tea for a minute before grabbing a small green tea tube. 

“Keishin-san, where should I—” Someone walked in and Daichi turned around. It was Koushi. Of all people and all places, it had to be Koushi at the only place he thought could be safe. His fate had finally caught up to him. 

“Daichi…” Koushi whispered, unable to hide his shock. Keishin was quicker than Daichi and went up to Koushi to instruct him what to do with the goods. They were gone for less than a minute and Keishin came back to charge Daichi for the ice cream. 

“Thank you for your purchase, come again soon,” he said with a professional smile before leaning over the counter, “Sugawara’s shift ends at 7pm, it wouldn’t hurt to catch up.”

He went back home in a daze. His mother cheerfully approved his choice of ice cream and his day went on. At 6:30pm he decided to take a walk. He thought it was foolish to wait for Koushi, and admittedly he was also a bit scared of how that could turn out. But meeting by chance wasn’t so bad. It could happen or couldn’t. Frankly, the lack of definiteness made him feel less anxious. 

After walking for almost an hour, his fear had dissipated completely. He walked towards the shopping district once more wondering if he could still meet Koushi, but a considerable amount of time had passed since the time he was supposed to get out of work. 

Daichi took a turn around a corner and stopped dead in his tracks, surprised. Koushi was sitting next to a vending machine near the front of the convenience store. He looked up towards Daichi and smiled uncertainly. Apparently he had been waiting. 

Keishin had probably mentioned something to Koushi as he did to Daichi. He mustered all his courage and walked towards the vending machine. He fished some change out of his pocked and bought two _pocari_ , handing one to Koushi before settling down next to him. 

They stayed silent for a while, drinking from the bottles and breathing the night air. Daichi felt like he was drowning in adrenaline. After two years he was sitting here next to Koushi. He quickly scanned Koushi’s frame, trying to see if he recognized any differences. 

The other boy was more tanned than he had ever seen him. His built had become larger, too and he looked stronger as well. 

“You look well,” Daichi finally said solemnly and Koushi’s laughter bubbled from his chest. All of this anxiety building in him suddenly drained from his body and Daichi smiled, feeling like those two years had been a sort of dream. 

“Thanks. You look well, too, Daichi,” Koushi said, turning slightly towards him, his facial expression filled with worry, “are you not angry at me? You left so suddenly. You… You didn’t keep in touch. I thought I’d somehow hurt you.”

Daichi started shaking his head and suddenly grabbed Koushi by the shoulder, “Koushi, listen, that’s not it. It was the other way around. I was afraid. I didn’t know how to fix what happened to you, I wanted the power to change things when I made it to university and you didn’t.” 

Daichi was angry at himself. His worry and guilt had kept him captive for so long and he finally realized how much of a fool he was for keeping his feelings to himself. He unconsciously dug his fingers into Koushi’s muscles, making him wince.

“Daichi,” Koushi touched Daichi’s hands on his shoulders and smiled sweetly, trying to make him ease the pressure “what happened wasn’t your fault. My exam failure wasn’t anyone else’s fault but mine.” 

“I know that!” Daichi exclaimed, trying to make a point, but did he really? He had felt guilty for so long and couldn’t face Koushi all this time, “I know, but I still felt like I’d betrayed you for leaving you behind. And then I really left you behind when I went to Tokyo. I shut you out.” 

Koushi sat there for a few minutes, considering Daichi’s words. Everything had been a misunderstanding, it seemed. Koushi had spent many sleepless nights thinking where he could have gone wrong about Daichi, but his anxiety and worries now felt like nothing compared to the feelings Daichi was sharing with him now. His heart filled with immense love for the other boy. It was so strange to know that what broke them apart had been Daichi’s profound sense of care for Koushi. 

“You really shut me out,” Koushi laughed again, but this time the sound was different, there was deep relief in it. “But you won’t this time around, right? Not anymore, right?” He asked, squeezing Daichi’s hands. 

“No, I won’t ever again.” He smiled and squeezed Koushi’s hand back. 

“In that case, I forgive you. Please forgive yourself, Daichi. I never thought badly of you for accepting the opportunities you got, though I admit I was a little angry that you stopped talking to me, but not anymore,” he pouted, “now, let’s shake hands on our renewed friendship!” Koushi grabbed Daichi’s right hand and shook it vigorously, making a big show out of it while laughing.

Daichi felt like weeping. Like hugging Koushi or kissing him. How could this person make it so easy for him? After two years of guilt, all of it had evaporated in less than ten minutes. Koushi was an incredible force, he was like a ball coming to his hand for him to spike. He suddenly understood how wrong he had been. How stupid he had been for thinking Koushi was going to blame him. The situation made him feel like he had just made a service ace or as if he had scored the last point to win a set. His heart felt like it was going to burst. 

They stayed together for a couple more hours. Daichi talked about his classes, his part time job and his new life in Tokyo. Koushi talked about his job, too, the guys from the volleyball team from the neighborhood association and his recent birthday celebration. It felt good. Catching up like this and talking like they did when they had been together in school felt incredible. At some point they had linked hands, Koushi leaning casually against Daichi’s shoulder. 

“Are you happy here? Are you satisfied with what you do?” Daichi asked after a moment of companionable silence and Koushi smiled at him, his eyes twinkling. 

“I am. I wouldn’t say this is what I expected to do when I was a third year, but I don’t have regrets.” Koushi sighed and stood up. “The only thing I wished is that we would have had this conversation earlier, but I’m glad we could make it work again.” 

Daichi nodded and followed Koushi, they stood together for a few seconds and Daichi did what felt natural, he leaned towards Koushi and pressed their lips together. Even though it was the first time, it was like breathing. Synchronized and perfect.

It was short but sweet. Koushi turned around, blushing when they finished and Daichi reached out to grab his hand again, “I’ll walk you home,” he said.


End file.
